Current Events

For a year, the mass media keep on saying “The Marawi Siege”. Sometimes, it is not clear which party they are referring to as the ones laying the siege and which party is besieged.

Once, I posted at my Facebook account a question – Who is doing the siege? Some people liked it. I think one commented “Yes, indeed.” But nobody ventured an answer.

In the first anniversary of the “siege of Marawi”, ANC posted a video with the following statement:

Here, it is very clear that, for ANC, the Maute Group is the one laying the siege.

From the web, one can get this definition of siege:

For those who have forgot / forgotten the story of the siege, let me refresh your memory. The military / government asked the residents to evacuate Marawi because of the presence of 50 or so armed men/boys, some of them carrying or waving ISIS flags. Then, they (military and government officials) allowed the Mautes to roam around Marawi while the residents fled for fear of Martial Law and being bombed by Philippine military jets just as what happened in Butig a few months earlier.

After a few days, when the Mautes had chosen the best spots to put in snipers and have the best vantage points, the MILITARY forces “surrounded the city and cut off supplies, with the aim of forcing the armed group to surrender.”
It is very clear then who was laying the siege. The military forces laid siege to the Maute group, bringing along tanks, armored vehicles and jet bombers. The Mautes were besieged. The Philippine military forces – thousands of troops with armor materiel and high-powered armaments, including jet bombers for air support — surrounded Marawi in order to defeat those inside it (the Maute Group). Thus, the Military, together with embedded media people, laid the siege.

It really behooves media people to consult their dictionaries once in a while.

It’s been one year since the start of the Rape of Marawi, referred to by the Media as the Marawi “Siege” and later, the Battle of Marawi.

I have refrained from writing about Marawi because it is very hard for me to accept that it was happening / it really happened. It’s really a miracle, but in a very negative sense.

I never imagined that the Philippine government and military can be so evil-minded. And they were/are supported by the Supreme Court and Congress and most of the Filipino people.

I never imagined that the Mranaos or the Moros would allow the Philippine government to totally destroy one significant city. I never imagined the Moro armed groups like the MILF, MNLF, BIFF ,etc. to just watch as the bombs fall on Marawi.

I never imagined intelligent Filipinos not doing anything to stop the Rape of Marawi, except for some rare individuals like Cong. Edcel Lagman, who almost single-handedly opposed the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao.

I never imagined the Supreme Court and the Senate to agree on long-term Martial Law in Mindanao when it is palpably AGAINST the Constitution and totally WITHOUT basis.

I never imagined Moro leaders could go down the level of cowards and lapdogs just so they can maintain their political positions.

I never imagined that people can be so idiotic as to believe that it takes six or so months to defeat 50, or even 200, armed civilians against the might of a country’s armed forces — thousands of troops armed with tanks, armored vehicles, heavy firepower including RPGs, jet planes armed with so many bombs plus the aid of US military advisers and drones.

I never imagined that people can be so intellectually damaged as to to believe that to defeat a hundred or so armed civilians, even if they claimed to be part of a sinister international terrorist group, one needs to pulverize practically a whole city.

I never imagined that people have lost their sense of logical reasoning as to believe that the military that pulverized a whole city in order to defeat a ragtag army of 100 of so civilians, with no surface-to-air missiles or anti-tank weapons, would not kill civilians or loot the houses, even if presented evidence to the contrary.

I never thought that people would be so naive and gullible as to believe that even after declaring total victory over supposed enemies, the government still refused to let the residents back to their ruined houses — for months! What were they doing? Covering up their crimes of murder and robbery by burning the houses with tell-tale signs?

I never thought the the world media, organizations like the UN and ASEAN and citizens of the world would just believe the crap that the Philippine government and media present to the world.

I never thought I would see the day when Mranaos lose their dignity, self-esteem, pride and their vaunted MARATABAT.

I so miss my eldest brother, Macapanton Rashid Yahya Abbas, Jnr. He was the brain of the Bangsa Moro revolution. If he were alive today, the Rape of Marawi would probably have not happened. He was beholden to no one and he was always fighting for Moro freedom. He had wide powerful connections – both local and international – and was well respected by almost everyone.

If he were alive, I would have been the first to egg him on to defend Marawi.

When he passed away, I wrote in my website The Moro Review that the end of the Bangsa Moro Revolution had finally come. The so-called Marawi “Siege” has buried the Bangsa Moro revolution. The MNLF and MILF are nothing but bad jokes.

Any grain of respect I had for the Philippine media had totally vanished during the months-long Rape of Marawi.

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A ravaged City… Photo by Reuters

A UP Journalism student doing her thesis on the Marawi “Siege” interviewed me on my thoughts about it. (I use quotation marks because I am not sure who the media refers to as those doing the siege and those being besieged.)

Weeks after the personal interview, she emailed me additional questions. These are her emailed questions and my answers:

UP Journ Student: What are your thoughts on how media portrayed the events that transpired in Marawi? In your opinion, where do you think media lacked in covering these events? Why?

ME: The essence of journalism is VERIFICATION. On the very first day of the Crisis, the mass media interviewed the military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla and other military officers. They all said that there were no ISIS members in Mindanao or in the Philippines. AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Año himself assured everyone that Marawi was “under control” and that the Maute group numbered around 50 only. (Note: The CNN link –http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/05/24/marawi-crisis-timeline.html – has been updated and the quote from Gen. Año was deleted. Why?? See Changing Marawi Narratives for the quote.)

And just a few hours after the announcements of the generals, Duterte, who was in Russia, suddenly declared that ISIS was in the Philippines and he declared Martial Law all over Mindanao.

A responsible media would have grilled the generals who told all and sundry that there was no ISIS presence in the Philippines. Did the President know better than the generals? And later, when then Cong. Harry Roque was interviewed on TV, he said that just an hour or so before Duterte’s declaration, he was with all the military and intelligence advisers of Duterte and they all said that there was no ISIS in the Philippines and that everything was under control. Roque was also in Russia as part of Duterte’s entourage.

Accdg. to Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, the Elements of Journalism, among others, are:

Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.

Its first loyalty is to citizens.

Its essence is a discipline of verification.

Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.

It must serve as an independent monitor of power.

It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.

It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.

Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.

Re: Marawi coverage, all these elements of Journalism were/are missing. Although, I am not sure about the last one.

I saw an interview of George Cariño. He was interviewed on his experience in covering Marawi. He even cried. He said something which intrigued me. He said that they were not allowed to use some words or phrases in their coverage. What was that? Self-censorship? Is that related to last element above?

If what happened to Marawi were to happen in a Christian-populated city? Would the Philippine media do the same thing as they did in Marawi?

UP Journ Student: How does the news coverage of the Marawi siege affect the public’s perception on it? What do you think are the other issues that will be affected because of the media’s news coverage of the Marawi conflict? What do you think are the factors that affect the packaging of news?

ME: The public’s – esp. The Christian majority’s – knowledge of Marawi came / comes from the media. Their perception of the Rape of Marawi was seen through the spectacles of media. The narratives the public got were all crafted by the government and disseminated through the media.

FRAMING is one BIG factor that affects the packaging of news.

The framing is terribly skewed in favor of the government’s narrative.

CONTEXTUALIZING. The context is terribly WRONG. From the media’s narrative, the context is as follows:

Marawi and the residents of Marawi are just like any Filipino, with the same shared history. All of a sudden, a group who represents a foreign-based jihadist terrorist group called ISIS, appeared and took hostage a whole city. The residents fled, Duterte declared Martial Law and massive military forces came in to the rescue, like the cavalry of the old US of A. And the people of Marawi applauded and were/are ever thankful for the Philippine government and soldiers. (This is so nauseating to most Mranaos…)

The public does not know the REAL CONTEXT. Marawi and Mranaos are not of the ordinary Filipino variety. The Mranaos are part of the Bangsa Moro who have been fighting the Philippine Republic since 1970 – for 48 years!!! And they fought the Americans for more than 20 years and the Spaniards for 350 years.

Given a choice between the Philippine government and a Muslim group, the average Moro would choose the Muslim group.

The reason for the Jabidah Massacre in 1968 was that the young Moros recruited by the Philippine military refused to go to Sabah to fight their fellow Muslims. They chose to side with their fellow Muslims than with the Philippine government.

The Moros are not Filipinos, in many sense of the term.

And what is the CONTEXT of ISIS? And the Caliphate?(Note: All of a sudden, a group of Al-Qaeda supporters proclaimed themselves to be a worldwide Caliphate in 2014 and called itself, the Islamic State or ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah. The Caliphate is the government of the whole Muslim World or Ummah. The last Caliph was Abdulmecid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who was deposed by Kemal Attaturk in 1924. )

ISIS means Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. It doesn’t include Mindanao or Marawi. If it does, it would be ISMIS!!!

ISIS, esp. during the time of the Rape of Marawi, was being bombed out in Iraq and Syria. They couldn’t possibly have any care about Marawi, thousands of miles away. The Mranaos are not even Arabs.

And what is the Caliphate? There has been a Caliphate (Khilafa) movement in the Islamic world since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and with it, the last Caliph.

But not just any idiot can claim to be a Caliph, like not any idiot can claim to be the Pope or the King/Queen of the British Commonwealth (formerly, British Empire).

The Hashemite Kings of Jordan and Morocco would be the first in line to be the new Caliph, not idiots put up by the US CIA. And not any idiot can be declared an Emir or Prince of a province of the Caliphate. (Hapilon of Abu Sayyaf was supposed to be the Emir of Philippines or Southeast Asia, accdg. to the government. Hahahahahaha!!!!!!)

Several years ago, American and European intelligence agencies started rumors about Muslims wanting to establish the Caliphate. But they were demonizing the Caliphate.

I thought then that the Westerners must be soooo dumb. Didn’t they know anything about the Caliphate (khilafa) movement, which has been around since 1918 or thereabouts? Little did I know that they were laying the predicate for ISIS.

EQUALIZING. The Media equalizes the strength of 50 or so Maute supporters, mostly kids, with the Armed Forces of the Philippines – with heavy weaponry, dozens of tanks, armored vehicles, airplane bombers and thousands of troops plus drones from the Americans.

SANITIZING. There were many reports of civilian deaths, but none were focused on by the media. And there was MASSIVE LOOTING but hardly any reports by the media.

UP Journ Student: In your opinion, what issues do you think the media should prioritize and should cover more during their coverage? Why?

ME: HUMAN RIGHTS is a foremost issue.

Right now, there should be focus on REPARATIONS — the Mranaos should be paid for the damage brought to their homes and properties.

MILITARIZATION – It looks like the government is intent on building more military camps in Marawi and thus become an Occupying power.

LAND GRABBING. The government seems intent on stealing Moro lands, again.

The Americans, and later, the Philippine government, delcared ALL MORO LANDS as PUBLIC DOMAIN. And since titling of Lands is not customary among Mranaos, most lands in Lanao are not titled. The government wants to steal them all over again.

And what is the QUID PRO QUO with the MILF and MNLF? The fact that MILF and MNLF supported the government means that they already made a deal with them. Why is the MEDIA mum on that? Whatever the deal is with both groups must have a great impact on the whole country.

UP Journ Student: What should be the media’s role in the conflict? What are the ways the media can do to live up to its role?

ME: The Philippine Media personnel, esp. the journalists, should adhere to the Elements of Journalism as espoused by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. (see ther first answer)

Later, I emailed her one more point. I wrote:
“When ISIS hq abroad claimed that the lone gunman in the Resorts World casino shooting was their member, the media ignored the claim.

Yet the same media immediately believed the president when he declared that ISIS was in Marawi with no evidence and contrary to the assertions of AFP generals who, just a few hours earlier than Duterte’s allegation, assured the public on national media that there were no ISIS in the Philippines.

Double standard???!!!

————– end of Question and Answers —————–

I would like to add more points.

In Marawi, a report that about 50 supporters – untrained civilians, mostly kids – of the Maute family, allegedly linked to ISIS, were roaming around Marawi City, was enough for the President to order the immediate evacuation of Marawi City and to declare Martial Law all over Mindanao and then to bring the might of the Armed Forces of the Philippines plus American drones and advisers to bomb the Islamic City of Marawi (or parts thereof) to kingdom come!

During the Cory Aquino administration, a group of highly-trained military troops headed by Col. Honasan, took over the Ayala Avenue area of Makati. The Cory Aquino government did not declare Martial Law or mercilessly bombed the highly urbanized Makati business district.

MARTIAL LAW DECLARATION

The Philippine Constitution states: “In case of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety requires it, he may, for a period not exceeding sixty days, suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law.”

In May last year, when Martial Law was declared, there was NEITHER INVASION NOR REBELLION in Mindanao. According to military officers — the AFP Chief of Staff no less and the AFP spokesman — there were only about 50 MAUTE clan members in Marawi and NO ISIS presence in Marawi, Mindanao or the Philippines.

Only idiots and morons and occupying powers (who think Moros are their enemies and need to be subjected to their powers) can justify the declaration of Martial Law in the whole of Mindanao!

The fact that Congress and the Supreme Court believe that there should be Martial Law in Mindanao (forever, if needed) only means that the Christian majority are playing along with the government. While there is Martial Law officially all over Mindanao, everything is business-as-usual in Christian-dominated provinces. Martial Law is just in full effect in Muslim-dominated provinces, esp. Lanao del Sur, incl. Marawi City.

MARAWI EVACUATION DUE TO EXPECTED BOMBING

The primary cause for the evacuation of Marawi was not the people’s fear of the Maute clan. Most Mranao families are well-armed. They are not afraid of just one armed family or clan. But they are afraid of being bombed by government forces.

Just a few months previous to the Rape of Marawi, the government bombed Butig, the stronghold of the Mautes. The residents of Marawi were afraid of government bombs, not Maute guns. In fact, about a few hours before the declaration of Martial Law, one Mranao woman was interviewed via phone by Karen Davila. The woman pleaded to the military, through the news program, not to bomb Marawi. She said that they did not want to suffer the same fate as the people of Butig.

And what forced the residents to flee was the declaration of Martial Law. With Martial Law, the local elected officials would be powerless. The military would reign supreme. And the Mranaos, like most Moros, do not love the Philippine military.

And if a Marawi resident was still not convinced to evacuate, the order by the Office of the Governor/Vice Governor to leave made the reluctant Marawi resident no choice.

The Marawi evacuation was the most important ingredient in the Rape of Marawi. The bombing of Marawi would not cause a lot of deaths. There would be no genocide to complain of. Apparently, the world could not care less about destruction of buildings, houses and mosques and roads and bridges. The massive looting by the soldiers and the unnecessary killings of some civilians on the side could easily be overlooked by the world’s media, who would focus on the government’s meta-narrative.

BANGSA MORO REVOLUTION – the NEXT PHASE

Prof. Cesar Adib Majul, the “mentor” to the Bangsa Moro revolution, wrote that there were six (6) stages or phases of the Moro Wars — the wars between the Moros and the Spanish conquistadors. If that were so, then the 7the stage of the Moro Wars was the one fought against the Americans. And the 8th stage was the MNLF/MILF wars against the Republic of the Philippines that began around 1969 / 1970.

The Rape of Marawi has finally wrote FINIS to the 8th phase of the Moro Wars. Practically all its leaders are gone. Dean C. Adib Majul, the mentor; Sultan Rashid Lucman, the Father of the revolution; Ustadz Hashem Salamat, the Spirit of the revolution; and Prof. Abbas, the Brain of the revolution are all dead. The OIC-recognized Head of the revolution, Nur Misuari is politically dead, even if he is being resuscitated by Mr. Duterte.

The above-mentioned leaders were modern leaders, educated and were inspired by the orthodox, classical and peace-loving Islamic ideology. The next set of leaders might come from extreme and radical forms of Islamic ideology, something like the Taliban or Wahhabi or Al-Qaeda variety. That would be very bad for the whole Philippines.

America is back in Mindanao – right smack in the middle of a war against a Mranao family, the Mautes and the full force of the Philippine Armed forces. Ostensibly, the Americans are providing intelligence and surveillance planes.

Today, July 4, 2017, we should reflect back on July 4, 1946 when America gave Moroland — the Pat a Pangampong ko Ranao, the Sultanate of Maguidanao, the Rajahnate of Buayan and the Sultanate of Sulu — to the Indios-Filipinos in a newly created Republic of the Philippines.

As a consequence of that action, England immediately proclaimed Sabah, which was a territory of the Sulu Sultanate, into a Crown Colony and later gave Sabah to Malaya which became Malaysia.

England gave back Hong Kong to China in 1997 after 150 years of possession and Portugal gave back Macau to China in 1999 after around 450 years occupancy. America can still give back Moroland to its real owners — the Bangsa Moro. America can still undo what it had done on July 4, 1946 – only some 71 years ago…

In 2002, one hundred years after the official end of the Filipino-American war and the beginning of the Moro-American war, I wrote an editorial in my online journal, The Moro Review. In 2008, at the height of the MOA-AD brouhaha – when a great majority of the Indios clamored for the scrapping of the MOA-AD – there were accusations that the American government was pressuring the Philippine government to sign the agreement.

Now, in 2015, history seems to be repeating itself. In lieu of the the MOA-AD, the Noynoy Aquino government forged a new agreement with the MILF. While almost the same as the MOA-AD, the newly-elected Aquino was seemingly able to convince the majority of the Indio-Filipinos to support the new agreement. But the Filipinos were just biding their time and when the opportune time came (the Mamasapano incident), there was a hue and cry against the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, which resulted from the framework agreement between the MILF and the Aquino government.

And since it is July 4, I thought the 2002 editorial of the The Moro Review would be appropriate for re-posting. It is quite obvious that the great majority of the Indio-Filipinos would not want to give an inch to Moro aspirations of greater freedom and autonomy.

The Filipinos who are in uproar against the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) – Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) are claiming that the US has a hand in the negotiations. They are claiming that the US pressured the Philippine government to sign the MOA. What nonsense!

These people base their argument on the letter sent by the MILF to Pres. George Bush in 2003 asking the US to mediate for peace. What in the world is wrong with that? The Philippine government continually asks the US to help them in their fight against the Moros and the Communists. And the US obliges them all the time. It is but natural for the MILF to ask the US to help in the peace process instead of the war process.

I believe my brother had a hand in the MILF letter to President Bush. I knew of the letter even back then. And I thought it was a very reasonable request.

MORO REVIEW

From 2002 – 2005, I ran an online journal — The Moro Review. In light of what is now happening, perhaps it would be in order to look at the Moro Review’s May 2002 issue’s Editorial:

It has been 69 years since the United States of America gave the Moro nations — its people and territory — to the Indios to create a new nation-state called The Republic of the Philippines. (Aguinaldo’s Republic did not include the participation of the Moros and was not recognized by any country while the Japanese-sponsored Philippine Republic was recognized only by Japan.) America had no basis to do so. The Moros were never conquered by the Indios. Perhaps America can rectify its wrongful deed. England gave back Hong Kong to China after a century and a half of colonization while Portugal gave Macao back to China after ruling it for around 400 years. America can give back to the Moros the freedoms and territories they had lost (including Sabah) when America gave the Moro nations and Moroland to the Indios and their newly minted nation-state.

Perhaps the only time there can be peace in the Philippines is when the Moros and the Indios can live their lives in peace and freedom — separately.

July 4, 2002

Editorial

One Hundred Years Ago

Some one hundred years ago, the Americans, under the delusion of ‘Manifest Destiny’, betrayed the trust of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and other Filipino revolutionary leaders and conquered the Philippine Islands thus ending the very brief experience of Filipinos with republicanism.

Some one hundred years ago, the Americans, upon the prodding of Manila-based Europeans, decided to extend their imperialistic adventures to MOROLAND –Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan but not to Sabah. Although part of the Sultanate of Sulu, Sabah was untouched by the Americans because the British were there.

One hundred years ago, on July 4, 1902, US President Theodore Roosevelt declared the Philippine-American War as officially over.

Yet it was exactly one hundred years ago when the Moro-American war began. The first fight between the Americans and the Moros occurred in the Sultanate of Bayang in the land of the Mranaos. The intermittent but bloody fight that pitted the Krag versus the Kris lasted for some 30 years until the time when the Moros were co-opted into joining the Commonwealth in 1935 and the Republic in 1946.

One hundred years ago, America was an emerging power. The Moros, on the other hand, were still enjoying their freedom and independence from any colonial power. Both had just given the Spanish authorities their walking papers. The Americans gave the Spaniards a mock battle and the Treaty of Paris while the Moros enjoyed routing the Spaniards cloistered in their fortresses scattered all over Moroland.

During the American Occupation, all Moro nations — the Tausug, the Maguindanaons, the Buayanens, the Mranaos — expressed their desire for independence from American and/or separation from the Filipino administration.

However, the Indios, who started calling themselves Filipinos, led by Quezon and Osmena convinced a handful of Moro leaders to support Philippine (including Moroland) independence. They also campaigned vigorously in Manila and in Washington not to separate Mindanao from the Philippines. They argued that the Moros were not “civilized” enough to form their own government.

With their European background, the new Filipinos portrayed themselves as the inheritors of Western civilization, unlike the Moro “savages” who were described in images befitting the Westerners’ “Other”.

Various US investigative Commissions (like the Wood-Forbes Commission) favored separation of Mindanao and Sulu from the rest of the Philippines. The Bacon Bill of 1926 demanded such separation. US President Hoover vetoed the Philippine Independence Act of 1931 because of Moro protests.

But the Filipino leaders merely doubled / tripled their efforts. Regular missions to the US were sent to convince American leadership about the folly of trusting the Moros. The Filipinos only had to remind the Americans of the deaths and destruction the Moros had done to American army personnel in Mindanao and the report of US officials that “a good Moro is a dead Moro.”

The eloquence, charm and strong personalities of Quezon, Osmena, Roxas and their colleagues were all put to good use. No Moro leader went to the US to counter Filipino charges. And so the Tydings- McDuffie Law was passed in 1936 promising independence to the Philippine Islands, including Mindanao and Sulu.

In 1946, the US handed over the Moro nations to the Indios-Filipinos and formed a new nation-state to be called the Republic of the Philippines.

But the Moros, defending themselves from genocide, rose again in the early 1970s. The Moro fight has been officially recognized by the Organization of Islamic Conference with the MNLF having an observer status.

The various international agreements (Tripoli, Jakarta) signed by the Philippine government and the MNLF were honored more in the breach than in implementation.

In sum, from the 15th century, the Moros were masters of their destinies while the Indios were a subjugated people under the Spanish. It was only in the 20th century when the Moros finally accepted foreign (American) domination in exchange for the right to practice their religion and way of life. Later, they were co-opted by the Indios into a new nation called the “Filipino” nation and a new state called Philippine Republic. Some thirty years after their experiment with being Filipinos, the Moros rose again and asserted a new ethnic identity — the Moro nation (Bangsa Moro) . But the Moros were no match for Marcos’s diplomatic and political genius.

With the new century / millennium starting with an American War Against Terrorism, which many Muslims the world over see as the War against Islam, the prospect of a renewed Moro War is quite bright. (The lapsus linguae of US President Bush when he declared a “Crusade” against his enemies did not escape the Muslims’ attention).

Once again, the Indios-Filipinos have called on “Mother America” to help them fight the Moro “savages” now called “terrorists.

One hundred years ago, America unilaterally abrogated the Bates Treaty with the Sultanate of Sulu and illegally annexed the whole of Moroland. In 1946, America, without any basis, handed the Moro nations to the Indios-Filipinos.

Today, America is here again, upon the call of the Indios-Filipinos to fight the “terrorists” — the new adjective for Moros.

But we call on America not to be blinded again by the sweet words and promises of the Indios — like a new military base. We call on America to not to add another injustice to the Moro people. We call on America to right the wrong it had done to the Moro people. Our fathers and forefathers had asked America for protection against the Indios-Filipinos. Instead, America fed them to the lions, as it were.

In 1910, in a conference with US Secretary of War Jacob Dickinson, Datu Mandi said, ” As I look around, I see more Moros than Filipinos. That is why it’s called the Moro Province. If the American government does not want the Moro Province anymore, it should give it back to us. It is a Moro Province, it belongs to us.

Another Moro leader, Hadji Nuno said, “The Secretary of War must look the matter in the face. We have a different race, a different religion… If we should be given over to the Filipinos, how much more would they treat us badly, when they treated even the Spanish badly? The Spanish were their own mothers and their own fathers for generations.”

Today, as we look around the former Moro Province, we see there are now more Indios. That is why they want to limit ARMM to just a few provinces. Have they treated the Moros badly? They only killed and tortured tens of thousands of Moros during the Marcos regime, waged an all-out war against MILF during Estrada’s presidency and now have called on the US Marines for help. This is not to mention the marginalization and extreme poverty of the Moro people.

We ask America to uphold the right of the Moro people to freedom and to self- determination. Like our forefathers, we would rather be free under American neocolonial rule rather than marginalized under Indio-Filipino rule. Ever since World War II, the Moros, unlike the Indios, never killed any Amercian, especially American soldiers. Unlike the Indios, there are no illegal Moros in the US. There are no Moro communists. The Moros have not done any harm to the U.S.

The Americans have no reason to fight the Moros. But it has the moral obligation to undo what it did before. The US gave the Moros and Moroland to the Indios-Filipinos. Perhaps it is about time to give the Moros back their freedom. It is never too late to undo a harm done — even if it is one hundred years late.

I’ve stopped watching boxing matches a few years ago. It has been getting obvious to me that these mega bucks extravaganzas are somehow or other fixed. In the first Lennox Lewis – Evander Holyfield fight, when the introduction of the boxers was being done, I realized that one was managed by HBO and the other Showtime (or such media orgs). Watching all the media hype, I exclaimed, “OMG, this is going to be a draw!” And I noticed how the fighters were pulling punches. When the decision was announced – a draw – I was not at all surprised. From then on, I got wary of these Super Fights.

I followed Pacquiao’s boxing career since his flyweight days. But his mega-bucks fights with bigger men like De La Hoya, Cotto and Margarito did not impress me. What impressed me was the genius of Roach to convince Pacquiao and the other boxers to fight at a “catch weight”. “Catchweight” Pacquiao demolished these fine boxers who had been drained of their energy by going down one or two or more weight divisions.

All fighters who are forced to lose a lot of weight before a fight usually lose their fights. They not only lose their kilos, they also lose their energies. Even Muhammad Ali lost when he had to lose so many pounds in so short a time, Pacquiao himself lost his flyweight crown when he had to get rid of so many kilos fast. In fact, he could not lose all those extra weight fast enough. He lost his WBC belt at the weigh-in when he went over the weight limit. I watched that fight on TV. Pacquiao was too weak. It looked like he could be felled down by a sudden gust of wind. Hence, I don’t think the catch weight fights are fair.

FIGHT OF THE CENTURY

I did not watch the last 3 or four fights of Pacquiao. But this time, even I got caught in the hullabaloo of the “Fight of the Century.” The media hype was tremendous. Even boxing legends George Foreman, Lennox Lewis and Bernard Hopkins agreed that this was going to be the “fight of the century”. And so did so many other boxing legends like the Golden Boy de la Hoya, Mike Tyson, Evander Holfield, etc.

There is talk of this being a Trilogy. This means that the fight could be fixed. I thought that Pacquiao would really give his all because only a Pacquiao win could guarantee a trilogy. If Mayweather wins, it would be very difficult to convince him to a rematch. I did not believe that Pacquiao would agree to fix the fight.

Well, the “fight of the century” turned out to be a big joke. But the joke’s on the boxing fans and viewing public. Pacquiao and Mayweather ended up at least ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS richer each after the “fight”.

Hehehe. The “Fight of the Century” was a dud. Mayweather showed everyone he could run and clinch. And Pacquiao was fighting as if he were the odds-on favorite and that he could just cruise along, throw a few punches and win the fight.

The Pacquiao team must know that the only way to beat Mayweather was to knock him out or down for a few times. Maidana, in his first fight with Mayweather, won at least 7 rounds and threw more heavy punches than Mayweather yet he lost by a unanimous decision. As long as Mayweather is left standing, all the judges and referees and American announcers and their punches-counting computers would all declare Mayweather as the undisputed winner.

Next time, the fans will not be as enthusiastic anymore. Too bad. I thought Pacquiao was serious in defeating Mayweather. Oh well, he was just interested in the $80 Million he’d be getting. But he should beware because Ms. Kim Henares is not going to run away from him. On the contrary, the Taxwoman is going to run after him! ‪#‎maypac

The senior Mayweather said it best when he told his son in the earlier rounds: “You are fighting as if you are afraid!” (paraphrase)

That fight cannot be a “Fight of the Century.” It’s not even the Fight of the Day. The Lomachenko – Rodriguez fight was a better boxing match than the choreographed Mayweather-Pacquiao love match (so many hugs and touch gloves!) .:( frown emoticon‪#‎maypac

Some Mayweather defenders say that the running was a mere strategy. It was part of an excellent fight plan. I disagree. I posted this comment on a nephew’s FB status:

Jamal Ashley AbbasIn the ring, Muhammad Ali danced like a butterfly but stung like a bee. When he danced to evade the punches, it was clear that he did it as part of a strategy that included a lot of jabs and a killer 1-2 punch that usually followed an Ali Shuffle.

The case of the Mayweather-Pacman fight was different. Mayweather ran for dear life. As his father said to him during the break in the early rounds, “You fight as if you are afraid!” (paraphrase).

On the other hand, Pacquiao did not really go for a knock-out. His camp knew that Mayweather would run. They should have been ready for that. His camp would be impossibly naive to believe that Pacquiao could win the judges (and the Las Vegas Mafia) with a few power punches.

But then, I suppose all of this was choreographed to prepare everyone for the MayPac part 2.

So, Pacquiao was injured? He was fighting the alleged world’s #1 pound-for-pound boxer and he thought he could handle him with an injured shoulder?! Hahaha. This only proves that the fight was fixed. It was already choreographed. An injured soldier would not have made any difference. OMG! In the words of the great Muhammad Ali when he learned that the promoters were getting the lion’s share of the revenues for the third Ali-Frazier fight: “(Hey, Joe), we were had!” The public was had, indeed!‪#‎maypac

OMG, why are the numbers manually written? Does that mean a computer did not count the punches? The judges counted the punches? How could they? How could any human count the punches and still be able to reasonably judge a fight?

And really, did people see that many punches thrown? Mayweather landed 81 Power Punches? Did anybody see them? I saw THREE, tops.

People should review the fight and prove the Falsity of these numbers.‪#‎maypac

Nowadays, during fights, a “Compubox” gives out the statistics on punches thrown and landed and the number of power punches. By its name, I presumed the calculations were done by a computer software.

When I reviewed some of Mayweather’s fights, I noticed that the announcers kept on mentioning the stats from the Compubox. They also kept on harping the fact that Mayweather is the Compubox champion, as it were, since the compubox itself found it hard to count his punches.

In the first Mayweather – Maidana fight, Maidana was relentless in his fury against Mayweather in the first six or seven rounds. Maidana obviously was throwing more punches, esp. power punches. But the announcers kept on saying that according to the statistics, Mayweather threw more punches. That made me quite suspicious.

From the first round of the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, I was shocked to hear the announcers claim that according to the Compubox, Mayweather threw and landed a lot more punches, including power punches. It was incredible! I didn’t see any power punch from Mayweather at all??!!

In the link above from KICKER DAILY.COM, the photo of the punch statistics from Compubox showed the numbers written manually, and not calculated by a computer. I was surprised. And then the article stated: “…with the punch statistics coming from the three judges disclosing the final tally…” I couldn’t believe it. The judges were the ones who counted the punches? Then they couldn’t possibly have judged the fight well. Nobody could tally the punches of both fighters and still see the fight for what it is. Incredible.

So I went to the Compubox website. It’s ABOUT page states: “The stats are tracked by two human operators with one operator tracking stats for each fighter. The operators are extensively trained to watch a fight differently than a normal fan would. Each operator concentrates on only one fighter and not the fight as a whole to accurately track the stats.”

So the Compubox statistics are not done by a computer but by humans. And of course, humans make errors, especially when they are paid to make errors.

A SCAM

From the looks of it, the fight was a scam. Before the fight, the American TV announcers were telling the public that MGM has now replaced Madison Square Garden as THE boxing arena. And that Mayweather considers MGM Grand as practically his home. His gym is nearby. And more importantly, the announcer said that it was Mayweather who made MGM Grand the top boxing venue. In fact, he said that Las Vegas was in the slump and it was Mayweather, through his fights, that propped up Las Vegas or the even the whole Nevada state. Thus, Las Vegas and Nevada owe much to Mayweather. And so it goes without saying that the Las Vegas mafia would not make it easy for anyone to win over Floyd “Money” Mayweather. He brings money to Vegas.

With all the media hype, I forgot that Pacquiao’s promoter is Bob Arum – a Las Vegas denizen who owns Top Rank promotions and is one of the biggest wheeler-dealers in boxing. He used to be Mayweather’s promoter and helped Mayweather’s meteoric rise to boxing super-stardom. With Arum and Mayweather doing the cooking, nothing truthful or even legitimate can come from it.

A friend commented on my “We Were Had!” post:

If there was anyone cheated here its the public who paid a lot for the fight. At least pacman will get his hundred million dollars

Another comment came from Mr. Buddy Cunanan, a cable TV talk show host and Georgia’s honorary consul. He wrote:

“Pacquiao was in on the fix from the start. I hope people see through this farce.” To which he added, “What a jackass!”

When Filipinos commit murder in foreign countries, the Philippine government go on bended knees asking foreign countries to spare the lives of these Filipinos.

When the Sultan’s relatives went to Sabah, which was the home of the Tausugs for centuries, they were immediately threatened and humiliated by the Philippine President. (The Sultan’s and Rajah Muda’s father lived for some time in Sabah)

PRESIDENT AQUINO’S ACTIONS

The sheer arrogance of the President, his utter disrespect to the Sulu royalty (and by extension to the Bangsa Moro people), his belittling of the Sabah claim and his humiliating subservience to the Malaysian Prime Minister are so mind-numbing.

I cannot understand how any self-respecting Moro could stomach the sheer arrogance of PeNoy and his people towards the Sultan, his people (and by extension the Bangsa Moro) and the claim to Sabah.

As to the government’s claim to Sabah, it is as clear as day that the President practically gave it up. First, he called it “a hopeless cause”. Second, he acknowledged Malaysia’s ownership of Sabah which is AGAINST THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION (ARTICLE I, NATIONAL TERRITORY: The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein, AND ALL OTHER TERRITORIES OVER WHICH THE PHILIPPINE HAS SOVEREIGNTY OR JURISDICTION consisting ….); AGAINST PHILIPPINE LAWS like RA 5446 and AGAINST GOVT PROTOCOL (Memorandum Circular No. 162, s. 2008).

Why is this unheard of subservience to the Malaysians? Their part in the Framework Agreement is not enough justification. Is the Philippine government supposed to be ever grateful to the Malaysians because of their mediation in the Peace Talks between the Government and the MILF?

But why? People naturally infer that the Malaysians favor the MILF, their fellow Muslims. So the Lahad Datu crisis should have given the Philippine government the chance to exercise leverage over Malaysia and thus weaken the the ties between MILF and Malaysia.

MALAYSIAN ACTIONS

The even more arrogant actions and statements of the Malaysians, even when referring to the Philippine government is so mind-boggling as it has no precedence in the history of Malaysian-Philippine relations.

While I love Malaysia – the country and its people, I, like many right-thinking Filipinos, am shocked at the actions and statements of the Malaysian government. I believe they would not do that without the imprimatur of the Philippine government.

MAKES US WONDER

But the actions of the Philippine President now make many people wonder. Has the Philippine government agreed to drop the Sabah claim in exchange for a peace agreement with the MILF ?

But why would the Philippine government do that? A peace deal with the Moros is never to the interests of the government, at least to the minds of the Christian majority. Just remember the passionate hatred for the MOA-AD by the Filipino majority.

If a peace pact is important to the government, then we would have had a working peace agreement a long time ago. It looks like there is something else that the people do not know. Perhaps to sweeten the deal, Malaysia offered something else – like a few billion pesos in exchange for a peace deal AND the dropping of the claim?

The government’s announcement that the MILF has dropped the claim on Palawan becomes very telling. While the MILF agreed to limit the talks on the small ARMM, which excludes about half of the Moros in the Philippines, I don’t see anything on the Framework Agreement that says Palawan or any other parts of the Philippines shall never be able to join the ARMM. On the contrary, I think there is a proviso that allows for future entry of barangays, cities, municipalities or even provinces.

MILF’S ACTIONS

The MILF’s apparent anger over the Lahad Datu incident, their approval of the handling of the event by the PeNoy government, Eid Kabalu’s nomination for ARMM governor and his appointment as consultant to the Armed Forces of the Philippines make one doubtful of MILF.

The MILF’s arrogance in saying that the Moros should not do anything which would imperil the peace talks is sheer B.S. Are the peace talks only for the benefit of the MILF? Are all Moro concerns supposed to be put in the back burner until the Peace Talks are ended? When will that be? In 2016 when there will be another Philippine president?

So please tell us, what have the Philippine government and the MILF sold to the Malaysian government? The Bangsa Moro and the whole Filipino people deserve to know.

On March 1, 2013, Friday 2 pm, the Malaysian and Philippine governments announced that the Lahad Datu Standoff had ended with the surrender of 10 men of the ragtag “Royal Sulu Forces”. Two days later, the Rajah Muda (Crown Prince) and his 200 or so men are still in Lahad Datu while the Philippine President keeps on repeating that the Sulu people should surrender as the patience of the Malaysian Prime Minister is running thin.

The Philippine and Malaysian governments were obviously lying. I don’t know what excuses they said when up to now, the stand off is still, well, a stand off.

Below is an article I wrote in the late afternoon of March 1 when the Philippine media were all talking about the end of the standoff.

While the Philippine government announced the end of the Lahad Datu standoff, reports from Sabah says heavy fightig between the Malaysian military and the forces of the Sultan of Sulu are on-going.

The Sultan of Sulu in Manila announced in late afternoon that some 68 Malaysian soldiers have been killed. This is confirmed by sources at the Sandakan Hospital in Sandakan, Sabah.

END OF STANDOFF?

Earlier, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Raul Hernandez announced that Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines Zamri Mohammad Kassim has delivered the news that ten of the people from Sulu have surrendered, thus ending the stand off. The end supposedly came about 2:00 in the afternoon.

The 200 or more men who came from Sulu apparently left by boat and left the 10 surrenderees. The Malaysian ambassador also informed the Philippines that two Malaysian commandos died while twelve of the Sulu Sultan’s men perished.

The Sulu Sultan has earlier announced that ten of his brother’s companions in Sabah has been killed, including a woman while four were wounded.

MARTIAL LAW IN LAHAD DATU

Sources in Sabah say that Martial Law has been declared in Lahad Datu with a 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM curfew.

The airport in Lahad Datu was closed and all flights were cancelled.

There are also various reports that ethnic Tausug Malaysians are being rounded up by the military for interrogation. The ethnic Taosugs, whose forefathers are from Sulu, are now in panic mode.

The Philippine government has asked Malaysia for permission to send a ship to Lahad Datu to pick up the ten surrenderees and to treat the wounded.

In a note verbale, the Philippine government also asked for an explanation of the military operation that resulted in a dozen deaths.

With the announcement of the Sultan of the deaths of 68 soldiers and the imposition of Martial Law, it is still unclear if the standoff in Lahad Datu has indeed ended.

Firefight broke out between the Malaysian forces and the forces of Datu Agbimuddin Kiram, the Rajah Muda (Crown Prince) of the Sultanate of Sulu in Southern Philippines around 10:00 am Friday, according to media interviews with the Rajah Muda in Lahad Datu and the Sultan of Sulu in Manila.

The Philippine government’s Department of Foreign Affairs announced that there were no casualties.

The Kirams said there have been casualties on their side but they could not confirm if there were casualties on the Malaysian side. Abraham Ijirani, the Sultan’s spokesman said that ten of Raja Muda’s people were killed, including one woman. Four are wounded.

According to sources at Sandakan Hospital in Sandakan, Sabah, there now 20 Malaysian dead, as of 1: 40 pm.

The Lahad Datu airport is closed and the military, not the police, are the ones fighting the Moros. Another source in Sabah said that fighting has now erupted in Kunak, a small town near Lahad Datu.

The Rajah Muda and his men, some 200 of them, reportedly arrived in Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia on Feb. 11, 2013. The Malaysian authorities alleged that the men from Sulu were armed.

The Malaysian authorities notified the Philippine government about the situation and asked that the Filipinos deal with the Rajah Muda’s men initially.

Emissaries from the Malaysian and Philippine governments talked with the Rajah Muda but no positive results were obtained.

HOME IN SABAH

The Sultan of Sulu, Jamal ul Kiram III announced that his brother, the Rajah Muda and his men simply went home, as Sabah has been home to the people of Sulu since the 1650s when the Sultanate of Brunei gave Sabah and Palawan to the Sultanate of Sulu in compensation for helping the Brunei Sultan fight a war against a rival claimant to the Brunei throne.

In 1878, the Sultanate leased Sabah to Baron von Overbeck and Alfred Dent for an annual fee. Overbeck and Dent later transferred the lease to the British North Borneo Company. The company continued paying the rent.

All the while, the British government acknowledged the sovereignty of the Sulu Sultan over Sabah. In 1946, 4 days after the US gave the Philippines, which included Sulu, independence, Great Britain announced it was taking over the “sovereignty” of North Borneo by virtue of an agreement with the British North Borneo Company. The Philippine government protested.

In 1957, Great Britain gave its Malay colonies independence. The Malay sultanates in what is now West Malaysia formed themselves into a nation-state called MALAYA. The Sulu royalty protested and revoked its lease agreement to the British North Borneo Company.

In 1963, with the help of Britain, Malaya incorporated Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore to form the Federation of Malaysia. The Sulu Sultanate temporarily transferred its sovereign rights over Sabah to the Philippines. President Diosdado Macapagal protested the inclusion of Sabah into Malaysia and sent a delegation to London.

Officially, the Philippine government has not dropped its claim to Sabah. The Sabah state continues to pay rental fee, which it calls “cession money”, to the Sultanate upto today.

On Feb. 26, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, in a press conference, called on the Sultan of Sulu to ask his brother and his men to stand down and go back to Sulu.. He sent ships to fetch the Moros. He also threatened to file charges against the Sultan and his people.

The President practically dropped the Philippines’ claim on Sabah by calling it “a hopeless cause”.

The Rajah Muda refused to budge as he wants Malaysia to start negotiating regarding Sabah.

According to a source in Sabah, a Tausug engineer who refused to be identified for fear of his safety, the Malaysian authorities had cordoned off the area since a week ago, and laid siege to the Moros.

“There is news blackout in Malaysia,” he says. He said that aside from the 300 or so armed men around the Rajah Muda, there are around 800 armed men in a nearby town named Sampurna and at least 1000 more armed and ready in the nearby islands in the Sulu Sea,

He says that no news reporters are allowed in Lahad Datu.

A Filipino traveler in Kuala Lumpur said that there are many people sympathetic to the Kirams. “There are hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tausugs in Sabah and they support the Sultan,” he said. (end)
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jamalashley is based in Manila, National Capital Region, Philippines, and is a Stringer for Allvoices.